Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I worry about this. I do not know whether the Minister of State heard me but earlier today I raised the Act that was introduced in 2017 ostensibly to protect sex workers. Written into that legislation was that a review would take place after three years. This has not happened even though we are now in 2024. This is an example of where a review was written into a Bill, so I am very worried about this Bill. I know the provision in the Bill comes from the pharmacists and the task force, that there was an interim report and a final report, and that suggestions are ongoing. The next step will see pharmacists prescribing for minor injuries, which is not the case at present. I am open to any of this as long as there is openness, accountability and monitoring. I am a little concerned about an example given of extending the administration of vaccines to other therapists, in that they would be given the power to administer vaccines. This will probably be done by regulation at some stage.

The example cited was that of physiotherapists, occupational therapists or podiatrists. I would have certain concerns about that. I will be running back into the Chair, but if the Minister of State has the chance to respond, I will hear her reply. The list includes dentists, nurses, midwives, opticians, physiotherapists, podiatrists, radiographers and pre-emergency care professionals. I have no problem with some of these, but I would be concerned about some others. Provision is also made for alternative medicines. Some of that is already in place, but it will be extended. I have no problem with any of that.

Making it easier for people to rent out a room is good news. This measure has been underused. We are all remiss in not asking questions about the rent a room scheme and we have not held to account how it has operated. The only question I could find on it was submitted by Deputy Bruton in October. The answer went through the number of households renting a room from 2016 to 2021. It started at 7,350 taxpayer units, as they are called, and increased to 10,730 in 2021. The reply set out the cost to the State. It was increasing all the time. At its highest, it reached €26.8 million for 10,730 taxpayer units. Clearly, there is a need for a cost-benefit analysis of this revenue forgone. I am all for the rent a room scheme, but I would like to see an analysis and figures.

The scheme permits rental income of up to €14,000 tax free, which is welcome, but I am concerned that we might be setting a target for what households might aspire to take in. It seems off the deep end to talk about €14,000 for a room, and I am sure that is not happening, but I would love to know the facts. This is outside the Minister of State’s area, but it relates to the reason we are changing the law. That change is good, but we are making it without having to hand a breakdown of the rent a room scheme nationally, for example, who is availing of it, whether a number of rooms are being let per house and whether those are taken into account when calculating the €14,000. My understanding is that someone could rent two or three rooms and the income from them would not be taken into account as long as it does not exceed €14,000. Interestingly, if it does exceed €14,000, then the household is taxed on all of it. I would love to see a breakdown of the scheme.

On a related note, I am unsure as to whether those in local authority housing can rent out a room without the income being taken into account in their rent assessments. I believe that was being done by the Minister for housing, although I am not sure. I take some of the blame for that, as colleagues and I should be asking questions regularly to find out the details. Sometimes, though, it is difficult to keep asking questions and put the information together.

Stark figures show that the average weekly rent in private rental accommodation increased by 37% between 2016 and 2022, but I will not go into the details. Consider what is available to rent. I will leave this for a housing debate, but I wish to highlight the number of tenancies. The Residential Tenancies Board cites a figure of 246,453 registered tenancies. The CSO cites a different figure. It has been suggested that the disparity is accounted for by some people saying they are renting when they are actually in student accommodation or other types of accommodation that are not registered. There was an interesting comment by Dr. Michael Byrne, associate professor at the department of social policy in UCD. He has more titles than that. He suggested to the Oireachtas joint committee that, rather than it being a case of landlords leaving the sector in their droves, which is often put forward in this House, they may actually be fleeing regulation. We are waiting to see something from the CSO, which has committed to carrying out a six-month investigation into the significant difference in the number of registered tenancies.

It will mostly be students availing of the rent a room scheme in digs. There are almost 200,000 students in Ireland. To be precise, I am told there are 199,000. This number is expected to grow to 239,000. Of them, 19% are in digs, which is a large proportion. The scheme is not specific to students, but it is often them availing of it. In addition to digs is specific student accommodation. No matter what measures we take, we are keeping rent prices-----

See this speech in context